Mike Huckabee once again defended the Duggar family, this time in a Monday night interview with Fox News’ Megyn Kelly.
Political observers and even Huckabee supporters have been puzzled by why the former Arkansas governor has inserted himself into a molestation controversy involving the reality TV show family in the middle of his 2016 presidential campaign.
A typical candidate would avoid getting caught up in a scandal that has little to do with the presidential race. Instead Huckabee has been one of Josh Duggar’s most vocal public supporters. Josh is the Duggar son who has been accused of molesting his sisters when he was a teenager.
“One of the things Huck told me in person is that he doesn’t think of the political implications all the time,” Joe Carter, senior editor at the Acton Institute and veteran of Huckabee’s 2008 campaign, told the Washington Examiner. “He’s not Hillary Clinton.”
When the news about Josh Duggar first broke, Huckabee posted a Facebook statement saying Josh’s actions were “inexcusable” but not “unforgivable,” urging people to support the family behind TLC’s “19 and Counting.”
Huckabee even went as far as having Chad Gallagher, one of his longtime political advisers, manage the Duggar family’s public image in the wake of the crisis.
“I think what’s really driving his support is that he understands that when parents make themselves public figures, the kids get dragged into it. His kids kind of went through the same thing when they were put in the public spotlight,” Carter told the Examiner. “It’s not the same situation at all, but he kind of relates to it and understands what’s going on.”
Carter said that when he was working on Huckabee’s first presidential campaign, the former Arkansas governor’s relationship with the Duggars first blossomed and “19 Kids and Counting” first aired.
The Duggars supported Huckabee for president in 2008 and then backed fellow social conservative Rick Santorum when the Arkansan didn’t run in 2012. They are back in Huckabee’s court for the 2016 primaries.
Will Huckabee’s support for the Duggars, whose show is popular among evangelicals, galvanize his base or damage his presidential prospects?
“With his core constituency, I think it will hurt him,” Carter said. “It’s hard to say what will happen. But it will hurt him with conservative Christians, and it doesn’t help him to speak about it. People will forgive him for saying it, but there’s also a lot of people who say he won’t.”
Carter added: “When you’re running for president you can’t speak of everything that’s on your mind. That’s something he’ll really learn on this campaign.”
